|
|
|
|
|
|
"You promised to stay a day!" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"You were asleep all the time. It is not fair!" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A breathless, wide-eyed silence fell. The men-servants in the hall stiffened apprehensively. Even Alinor caught her breath. Ian never shouted at the children. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"I am not going away," he said, grinning at them, "but how can I make myself heard if you both shout at me at once." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adam slipped from the bench, crawled under the table and embraced Ian passionately around the thighs. Alinor laughed softly. The servants, free of the startling fear that their well-known guest had suddenly become a threat, went about their business. Ian's squires stood a trifle awkwardly behind him. They knew the formal moves the squire of a guest should make, but in this intimate family situation they were at a loss. The elder, Owain, son of Llewelyn, simply waited. His acquaintance with his master gave him assurance that he would be told without rancor or unreasonable punishment what to do. The younger, Geoffrey FitzWilliam, had come to Ian from being a page in the queen's court. A month of good usage had not been sufficient to wipe out the terrors that had been bred into him in three years of Isabella's service. He stood frozen, masking his fear. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"How long? How long?" Adam begged. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The opportunity was too good to miss and Ian too good a tactician to overlook it. He dropped his hand to the boy's head, but his eyes sought Alinor. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"I am not going away at all, not ever again, except if I must answer the king's summoning or see to some necessary business where it might be dangerous to take you." He could have stopped there, but Alinor's eyes approved and he continued. "I have asked your mother to marry me, and she has consented. From this time forward, I will be your warden." |
|
|
|
|
|